The present invention relates to the new and distinct cultivar of ligularia, botanically known as Ligularia ‘King Kong’, and hereinafter referred to as the cultivar ‘King Kong’ or the “new plant”. The new plant was discovered by the inventor at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich., USA as a single selected seedling from seed of an isolation block of six herbicide-treated proprietary plants selected from Ligularia ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,113 in the fall of 2009. The new plant was selected from many seedlings in evaluations beginning in 2011 and the individual selected seedling was originally assigned the breeder code H9-12-02. Ligularia ‘King Kong’ has been asexually propagated through division first in spring of 2012 at the same nursery in Zeeland, Mich. and subsequently also by sterile plant tissue culture. Plants of ‘King Kong’ have been found to be stable and identical to the original selection in multiple generations of asexual propagation.
No plants of Ligularia ‘King Kong’ have been sold, in this country or anywhere in the world, prior to the filing of this application, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made prior to the filing of this application with the except that which was disclosed within one year of the filing of this application and was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor.
‘King Kong’ has not been observed under all possible environments. The phenotype may vary slightly with different environmental conditions, such as temperature, light, fertility, moisture and maturity levels, but without any change in the genotype.